John’s very kindly been busy again with the latest print out scenery range – which got me thinking about the Faller HO viaduct.
The Faller HO viaduct is about $60, and you can’t easily kit bash it to suit your layout.
But what about the printable buildings / scenery range? Could they be up to scratch?
Well, have a look at what John’s done.
Course, I’m biased, but it’s stunning stuff – and I think John proves that when you see the viaduct, it looks very good indeed.
Don’t just take my word for it, though, have a look:
I know John moves them about quite a bit, so here are some stills (pics are clickable):
It’s hard to believe they are made from print outs, and they’ve just been stuck together – but that’s exactly what they are:
They are made at HO scale – just reduce the print by 54% for N scale. If you want to print for O scale they enlarge really well – but you need a printer that can handle the larger sizes.
Trains in the attic has always been a dream for Eddie, and now it’s coming true:
“Hi Al,
I Promised I would send in the initial photos of my attic layout. So here they are for what they are worth.
I have always wanted to construct a layout ever since I was a boy.
Unfortunately I never ever got round to it. Life took over: growing up, career, marriage, kids.
My career definitely took over, and I was seldom at home, I do not know how my wife put up with it…
Now I have retired I have decided to put the effort in to achieve my childhood dream, a full blown attic layout.
I commenced over 18 months ago, and I must admit, not full time. I probably would have been further on if I had.
I have been learning as I go, and also making many mistakes as I go…
The site you manage is invaluable to me. I have learned a lot from it, and still have a lot to learn. Some of the postings of other layouts are fantastic and are a great source of inspiration.
Maybe one day I can reach these dizzy heights???
My layout runs the length of the attic, down both sides, meeting at each end. It is 25 feet in length by 2 feet wide, the end sections are6 and a half feet by 3 feet.
It is situated between the roof trusses at waist height, and the baseboard is made of chipboard interlocking flooring I had left over when I floored the attic. I used some 2 by 2 strapping underneath the boards for extra middle support.
I covered the baseboard in compressed fibre board underlay, the type used for flooring.
It is still in its very early stages. I have three main lines laid and powered. They do a complete circuit of the layout, one is for freight, the other two are passenger. Eventually I will have a mainline station, a country station and a freight yard. Just dreams at the moment…
One problem I do have, is the slope of the roof will make it difficult to have a backdrop. I have racked my brains but cannot come up with a solution. Maybe some of the users can offer some suggestions?
It is DCC apart from the raised section that will run around the outer edges. This is going to be DC as I have acquired an old Triang ‘ Princess Elizabeth’ train set ( the same type as was given as a Christmas present as a boy in 1958…) sadly that went missing over the years. I bought this one on Ebay and I was in seventh heaven when it arrived.
It appears to have a serial number on the box which could indicate the date of manufacture ‘R1X100953’ to me that could indicate 10th of September 1953? I wonder if some of your users could verify that, although it is probably wishful thinking on my part….
I did think about converting it to DCC, but I was advised against it. Thankfully I took that advice. I will keep it in its original state. The only thing I have replaced is the magnet.
Keep up the good work Al. It is invaluable to me.
Regards
Eddie”
Trains in the attic:
Now on to Joe:
“Alastair,
Good morning sir, I would like to take the time to say that I really enjoy seeing all if the emails and I learn new things every time I receive them.
I am fairly new to the hobby (I started in 2011) and I am currently working on my second layout attempted my first one ended up beige down due to space needed, it is a 4 x 6 layout in my spare room in the basement. Here are some pics, hope you enjoy.
Joe”
“Learning from experience: My wife wanted an HO layout, so I built, in the basement, an 8 x 16 foot table for her trains. ( I do n-gauge)
I put fluorescent lights overhead. In time, the fluorescent lights needed replacements, etc., and I found I could not service them without clambering over the layout table. That precluded installing scenery and additional trackage.
The solution was to install LED lighting. LEDs last “forever”, so there is no need to climb up on the table.
Erik”
“Info re soldering- actually most irons today come with electroplated tips and not solid copper. Filing them will destroy them. If your tip gets dirty (usually baked on carbon from flux), get a block of salammoniac (flux salt) and break some up and rubs your iron tip in it when hot- then do same with a bit of solder.
Mike”
“Dear Alistair,
I have a couple more tricks that may interest you. My first is a money saver. Contractors fitted a new updated alarm system in the offices where I was working. The old wire was the same thickness as telephone wire but it is multicore strands and not just a single metal core. It is therefore much more flexible and for very fine work you can separate the strands and use them individually.
It is a bit fiddly but it works. The contractors were throwing all the old wire in a skip and I got permission to ‘help myself. I have miles of it, all different colours and it cost me nothing. If any modellers have a friend who works for an alarm company, there is no harm in asking.
My 2nd idea is Using R/C micro helicopters as part of your layout. I have built a Heliport using a Superquick cardboard bus station converted as a plane hanger. I made a cardboard landing pad and wired in tiny 1.44mm LEDS around the landing circle and the ‘H’ in the middle for landings and take offs after dark. It adds another dimension to a layout and looks brilliant in the dark.
I bought my helis through Aliexpress from China and even found mini 4 rotor hover fighter aircraft. At 66 years old I am just a big kid. They are cheap as chips usually with free postage from there. They add really good fun and my Grandson (7 years old) is a better pilot than me – Bugger!!!
Regards
Doug”
“Alastair
I guess I would say that best model railroad tip would be to run bus wires. Years ago we would put the track together hook up the transformer and hoped for the best. Often we were disappointed because of poor electrical contact.
I have found that running bus wires under the layout and dropping down feeder wires every few feet makes electrical contact more reliable, and trains run much better without hesitation – important if you are running trains in the attic!
Keep up this great site
Dickie”
A big thanks to Eddie for sharing his trains in the attic. Thanks to Dickie, Mike, Doug and Joe too.
Actually before I go, when it comes to trains in the attic, Dave’s layout springs to mind:
Roger’s been in touch with his OO scale double track bridge.
Well, there’s quite a few bridges on his layout, and one cleverly carries the power for his layout:
“Hi Al.
I have been into modelling all my life, in fact since my dad bought himself a Triang train set for my Christmas present back in the 50s.
For the past 25 years I have been building live steam models including four 5″ gauge locos, a 7.1/4″ Adams 415 class, three traction engines, two of which are half size and am now starting a 7.1/4″ gauge Black Five.
In between the muck, grime and steam oil I have picked up again on my 00 gauge railway which I gave up some seven years ago so all my stuff is quite old in fact going back some 25 years I suppose.
I laid all the track but had problems with steam locos and inclines whereas the diesels did not flinch. As I prefer steam I decided to put everything on the flat and make things go either under or over the baseboard so as time goes on there will be canals and locks.
As my partner is from North Wales, I thought a slate quarry may spark some interest in the direction of 00 gauge. Anyway it is early days yet having only been working on the track when I felt like it over the past year.
The blue bridge is to carry the electricity power cable from the only wall socket in the vicinity and so avoiding trailing extension leads to trip up on. It is scratch built out of aluminium angle and the bottom of plastic trays that you buy plants in here in Brittany, I believe they call them godetts. I need to put on some cross members to keep it in shape.
The station building is made out of parts of a French made roundhouse. I cut the window frames out and built plywood walls to support them. The roof is thin ply covered in corrugated paper that I found in a local craft shop.
There are lights inside which I made with grain of wheat bulbs, there will be a restaurant at one side and a dance hall at the other.
The wall lights came from Ebay China as did the bulbs and loads of other stuff like the transformers Dangerous Dave demonstrated recently except mine were only £3.44. I bought a few to power the various lighting circuits that will be in the layout eventually.
I even bought a multimeter to measure things electrical from Ebay China. I think the post girl suspects that I am drug running with all the little Chinese plastic bags she keeps delivering.
The OO scale double track bridge by the station is scratch built. The DIY shops over here sell quite a good range of aluminium and plastic extrusions to make such things quite easily. The girder work is aluminium tile trim, the stuff you put on corners of walls when you tile the bathroom under duress with the little lady stood behind with a 12 bore.
The embankment I got from this site when I first got back into 00 gauge. I still have the coping’s to put on but the lights and belisha beacons are working, also more drug running from Ebay China. I have a wood burning fire and get loads of bark from the logs which I am going to use for rock faces etc.
I will send more info as time goes on but as I said we had a rather large house fire last November and the artisans are due to start work soon so I will be following them about to make sure they do what I want not what they want. The roofer came this morning with a ladder which he put against the wall outside. He then came inside the house and went upstairs to measure up. He then came down, went outside, took his ladder back to his van then left. Not too sure why he needed the ladder.
Thanks for putting me in touch with Bern Robins at Trans Le Forest. We chat on the phone regularly and we have been to each others houses. He enjoyed the 6″ Little Samson steam up and I let him drive it.
Regards.
Roger”
OO scale double track bridge:
A huge thanks to Roger for sharing his OO scale double track bridge.
As you all know, I love seeing a layout take shape – and it just goes to show how a little planning can go a long way. Can’t wait until Roger’s next installment.
